Mouthpiece for cornets.



G. G. CONN.

MOUTHPIEGE FOR OORNETS.

APPLICATION FILED 111111.30, 1912.

1,050,344, Patented Jan. 14, 1913.

WITNESSES ;l/VVENTOR Y Y I Attorneys CHARLES G. CONN, 0F ELKI-IART, INDIANA.

MOUTHPIECE FOR CORNETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14:, 1913.

Application filed March 30, 1912. Serial No. 687,358.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES G. CONN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elkhart, in the county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mouthpieces for Cornets, of which the following is a specification.

While I have selected for the purposes of illustrating my invention, the mouthpiece of a cornet, it is, of course, obvious that the invention may be used as a mouthpiece for any of the brass wind instruments.

A large proportion of cornetists are possessed' with more or less defective embou chures, usually caused by an overhanging upper jaw. This projecting upper jaw and the teeth prevent the cornetist from placing the mouthpiece of his instrument evenly on his lips. The upper lip projects out farther than the lower lip and the mouthpiece cannot rest evenly against the lips. In order to overcome this physical obstacle, the corne-tist is obliged to reduce the upper lip to the same plane of the lower lip by the use of pressure. This pressure naturally prevents a free circulation of the blood in the upper lip and causes it to swell and interfere with the use of the muscles in contracting the lips and increasing the vibrations. The uneven pressure also prevents a proper use of the cheek muscles in creating the necessary vibrations which start in motion the various sound waves necessary to produce the scale of the instrument.

To afford a free use of the upper lip in its functions as a tone producer I have invented a mouthpiece with a face cut out and shaped so that when placed against the lips, the pressure against the lips is even, and will not cause either lip to swell and lose its controlling value.

Another object of this construction is that the lower lip is given greater pinching power than it would have with the old level faced mouthpiece, and in this way adds much to the ability of the cornetist in making the upper notes through the creation of quicker vibrations.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mouthpiece embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.

The reference numeral 1 designates a mouthpiece, having a rim, one half of which is in a different plane from the other half but parallel thereto. The lower half of the rim 2 is parallel to the upper half 3 of the rim, but the vertical plane of the upper half is back of the vertical plane of the lower half, the two planes being par allel. At the juncture of the upper and lower halves of the rim, I form an inclined shoulder i so that the edge of the rim presents an unbroken surface.

By placing the upper half of the rim back from the lower half, I form a recess adapted to receive the upper lip of the player so that both the upper and lower lips may have a firm close bearing on the rim throughout its area without unnecessarily pressing either lip, thus the mouthpiece distributes the pressure evenly on the lips, thereby obviating the swollen lip and impairing the lip and cheek muscles, so that the lip and cheek muscles are free to do the necessary work of reaching the high notes without excessive pressure on the lips.

I claim 1. A cornet mouthpiece having a rim formed in different but parallel vertical planes, and a short portion nearly at right angles to and connecting said portions and forming shoulders on each side of the rim.

2. A cornet mouthpiece having lip bear ing surfaces in different but parallel planes and a short portion nearly at right angles to and connecting the two planes and constituting a lip-bearing on each side of the rim.

3. A cornet mouthpiece having the upper half of its lip-bearing rim terminating in a short portion extending forwardly therefrom and nearly at right angles thereto, the lower half of said rim extending downwardly from saidshort portion in a plane parallel to the upper half of the rim.

The foregoing specification signed at Elkhart, Indiana, this 19th day of March, 1912.

CHARLES G. CONN.

In presence of- HAZEL Tome, E. M. BUTLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

